Time Spent in Reconnaissance is Seldom Wasted
by ShaViva
Summary: Rodney McKay learns the hard way why the military always say that time spent in reconnaisance is seldom wasted. One shot team fic, Rodney centric.


**Time Spent in Reconnaissance is Seldom Wasted**

Author: ShaViva

Rating: T

Content Warning: Minor language

Season: Probably Season 5 ... you can decide

Summary: Rodney McKay learns the hard way why the military always say that time spent in reconnaisance is seldom wasted.

Classifications: Team fic, Rodney centric

Pairings: None

Spoilers for: Minimal ... too tiny to even notice really ... references to Missing and Be All My Sins Remember'd.

Disclaimer: The Stargate characters, storylines, etc aren't mine. I am unfortunately not associated in any way with the creators, owners, or producers of Stargate or any of its media franchises – if I was we'd be seeing them on TV for some time to come *sighs dejectedly*. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, equipment, etc are the property of whoever owns them. The original characters and plot and anything else I made up are the property of me, the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Copyright (c) 2009 ShaViva

oOo

**Time Spent in Reconnaissance is Seldom Wasted**

Rodney McKay sat huddled in the back of the Puddle Jumper alone, shivering miserably as he waited for his team to return. It had been one of those missions ... the kind he'd taken to labelling a 'cake marathon' in tribute to those days when he'd actually believed Team Sheppard could go on a cake walk mission and come back on time and unscathed.

This time the 180 degree turnabout _had_ been his fault – not that he'd admit it to Sheppard or anyone else. He'd looked into M9H-133 on the ancient database before approaching Woolsey about a mission ... hints of a research outpost interesting enough to warrant further study. But with his usual enthusiasm ... _others_ might refer to it as haste ... Rodney had hit the ground running as soon as he'd discovered the outpost existed, meaning his investigation had been less than thorough.

What he _hadn't_ discovered until too late was the type of research done at the outpost ... the Atlantis equivalent of an EM Pulse designed to take out Ancient tech in much the same way an EMP would disable Earth based technology.

They'd no sooner stepped through the door than Sheppard with his super ATA gene had turned everything on. If Rodney had known beforehand what the place did then _maybe_ he could have switched the generator off before it activated. He hadn't and the resulting wave of annoyingly attractive Ancient blue light had pulsed from the lab and travelled God only knew how many miles in all directions before dissipating. All Rodney knew once the dust had cleared was that the range was sufficient to reach Puddle Jumper One and completely disable it. Sheppard had been pissed to say the least, yelling at Rodney about wanting just once for him to actually live up to his genius tag _before_ everything went to shit.

They'd hiked back to the Stargate ... a journey of around four hours on foot. Manfully Rodney had held in the complaints he was used to voicing ... every comment in his head being answered before it could be spoken by what he knew Sheppard would say in return. 'Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted' ... or something equally 'Zen and the Art of War'.

To make matters worse it had started raining somewhere inside the second hour ... and it hadn't let up since.

When they'd reached the gate and discovered a DHD that was deader than the entire Replicator race Sheppard had gone from visibly irritated to deathly quiet ... _not_ the Sheppard you wanted to be stuck on a rainy deserted planet with.

Making the return journey to the disabled Puddle Jumper had been painful ... the rain as unrelenting as the silence Rodney felt he justly deserved.

With water dripping from his nose incessantly and boots that squelched annoyingly with every step Rodney had rated the mission right up there on the McKay Misery Index ... giving it extra points for every snippy remark he'd thought but couldn't voice even though the urge to complain had been like a really pointy and painful stone in his shoe.

And then about an hour from the Jumper's location Ronon had spotted something – concerning or just interesting Rodney didn't know because he'd disappeared into the forest before anyone could ask. Sheppard had quickly sprinted off through the trees after him, yelling for Rodney and Teyla to wait for them back at the ship. Teyla had gotten Rodney back to the Jumper and then gone off herself to search for firewood.

And so Rodney found himself alone in the back of the jumper coming up with new ways to rate his level of misery.

oOo

"Rodney?" Teyla's voice preceded her return to Rodney's cold little shelter.

"Di –id y-you find any-th-thing?" Rodney's teeth chattered uncontrollably as he shivered miserably in his wet clothes.

"No," Teyla said shortly, striding into the back section and looking again at the items available to them. Unlike Rodney she gave no outward sign that she was even bothered by the fact that everything she had on was soaked right through.

"Shep-pard?" Rodney asked, hoping John had contacted Teyla while she'd been out searching.

"He and Ronon continue to maintain radio silence," Teyla replied. Glancing assessingly at her teammate Teyla continued. "We must get you dry and warm Rodney."

"With what?" Rodney retorted, sarcasm lending some much needed heat to his voice. "We didn't exactly pack for a winter vacation! Which, you know, is a serious oversight on our part. It's not like we haven't run into trouble before ... why _don't_ we stock the Jumper with a wardrobe full of spare clothes and ... and blankets? Jackets! Umbrellas! We have space ... we could have brought a ... a nice oil powered heater, slippers and some marshmallows if we just bowed to the inevitable and assumed that every mission we go on will end in disaster!"

"_Rodney_," Teyla admonished sternly. "Atlantis will contact us soon after we miss our scheduled check in. Until then you must _try_ to endure."

"I know what you're all thinking," Rodney muttered, rubbing his hands up and down his arms in a vain attempt to warm them. "This is all my fault ... I should have researched the outpost more thoroughly – then we would have known about the Puddle Jumper killing energy wave."

"We do not think that Rodney," Teyla denied complacently.

"Well you should," Rodney insisted grimly. "It's lucky this place is deserted or we'd be at the mercy of whatever homemade knife wielding primitive tribe is likely to live here."

"That _is_ something to be thankful for," Teyla agreed graciously.

Rodney shot a quick glance at her, wondering if she was teasing him but finding her as usual impossible to read.

"Why is it taking them so long?" Rodney voiced what was at the heart of his current angst. "They should have made contact by now."

"I do not know," Teyla returned. "Ronon is much experienced at improvising under such conditions and Colonel Sheppard is more than capable of looking after himself. They will be fine."

"We can't know that!" Rodney retorted. "They could be strung up over the local cannibal's fire right now just waiting to be dinner."

"That is highly unlikely Rodney," Teyla's eyes twinkled with the inner amusement she felt over Rodney's words.

"_Really_?" Rodney said snidely. "Because enemies who _eat_ their captives are completely unheard of in these parts aren't they?! You of all people would know better ... or were you just pulling our leg about the Bola Kai?"

"It is true that there are those who would stoop to such a level," Teyla admitted without censure. "But they would not live where finding fuel for their cooking fire is so difficult."

"Oh that's right," Rodney complained bitterly. "Mock me if you will but I'll have you know that fear of being eaten is a recognised condition. Phagophobia if I'm not mistaken although originally that just referred to someone afraid of swallowing ... which makes no sense if you think about it ... everybody swallows before they're even born and I'm pretty sure -"

"I do not mock you Rodney," Teyla interrupted, her gentle tone making Rodney feel suddenly guilty.

"We should go look for them," Rodney said suddenly. "They might really be in trouble."

"Or we might just be bringing back supplies McKay," Sheppard's voice announced their return much as Teyla's had only minutes before.

"What took you so long?" Rodney grumbled to cover his relief, as usual not wanting the others to know just how much he relied on them being all in one piece and therefore capable of saving his sorry arse.

"We missed you too McKay," Sheppard said with a faint smirk, shrugging a shoulder to lower the large pack he had on his back.

"No we didn't," Ronon's face was all seriousness but the faint twinkle in his eyes said he was teasing his teammate. He too had a large pack strung over his back which he removed with ease.

"He's right," Sheppard agreed with a shrug. "We were too busy to miss you."

"Fine," Rodney groused, eyes glued to their bounty. "Did you at least get some dry clothes and blankets?"

"Turns out this place isn't as deserted as we originally thought," Sheppard revealed, taking a set of 'native' attire from his pack and tossing it across to Rodney. "And lucky for us they turned out to not only be friendly but also exceedingly generous. We've got everything we need to hold out here until Atlantis dials in."

"Oh Thank You God," Rodney intoned, jumping up quickly to take first turn in the front section. "I am so sick of being cold and wet I won't even complain that this material feels like it was woven from steel wool or that the style is reminiscent of early cave man."

"That will make for a nice change," Sheppard retorted. "Because it wouldn't be like you to hold in a complaint."

Rodney let the bulk head closing be his reply.

**The End!**

**Authors Note:**

Just a little one shot which is not like me at all! Thanks to Negolith for giving me the idea of sharing it with a wider audience ... hope you like it!


End file.
